For Michael van Gerwen, a nervous wait is set ahead of the play-offs after a sudden shoulder injury which saw him withdraw from his semi-final on Night 16 of the Premier League Darts.
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Van Gerwen was cruising against Chris Dobey, but then suddenly felt his shoulder and winced every time he threw. He still got over the line albeit in visible pain.
Due to face Dimitri van den Bergh, he tried to play and even won the bull but withdrew from the semi-final late on. He will now undergo further medical checks with the aim of next week's play-offs.
This will also likely rule out the ProTour this weekend which heads to Leicester from Saturday onwards.
"Sometimes you have muscle pain but nothing like this - I don't know exactly what happened," said Van Gerwen to Viaplay.
"I had a good feeling when I was leading 5-0, but from that moment it got worse and worse.
"It sort-of felt like a heavy arm. I've just spoken to the medical people and they said it was some kind of muscle strain, nothing serious.
"I won the bull against Dimitri for the semis and I was going to play, but it didn't feel good. With next week coming up I didn't want to take any risk - that's really important and I'm going to focus on that.
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"I want to make the right decisions and I don't think it's the right decision to play now.
"I think for me at the moment it's important to take some rest and have somebody look at it because next week is so important."
Samuel Gill is the Chief Content Officer (CCO) of DartsNews.com, a role he has held since 2020. He is responsible for editorial governance across the platform, including setting content standards, overseeing accuracy and consistency, and guiding long-term editorial strategy across professional darts coverage. Since joining, he has contributed more than 10,000 articles and editorial pieces, playing a central role in the development and daily operation of the site.
Based in Leicester, Samuel has extensive experience in darts media and has been closely involved in coverage of the professional darts circuit for several years. Within the UK darts community, he is a recognised figure known for his consistent editorial output and ongoing reporting on major tournaments and developments across the PDC calendar.
In his current role, Samuel works closely with editors and writers to ensure content meets clear journalistic standards, with a focus on source verification, editorial consistency, and timely updates when new, confirmed information becomes available.